Process of treating hair



III.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HANNS R. ANDERS, OF PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROESSLER & HASSLACHER CHEMICAL 00., OF NEW YORK, N. Y. A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF TREATING HAIR.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HANNS R. ANoERs, a subject of the Emperor of Austria, residing at Perth Amboy, in the county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Treating Hair, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to processes of treating hair and relates particularly to treating animal hair, such as for instance cows and pigs hair. The object of the in vention is to obtain a uniform shade without injury to the fiber and without going to great expense and risk.

In the usual process of bleaching animal hair it has been customary to first wash the same in a soap solution to which various alkalining agents have been added, subsequently treating the hair with a hydrogen peroxid bleach bath and rinsing the same before it was finally subjected to the action of sulfur-dioxid either in the form of a bath containing or liberating the same, or to the fumes of burning sulfur. In the majority of cases it has been necessary to give several treatments with the peroxid bleach bath to obtain even a partially satisfactory shade and therefore the old process described above has proved liable to affect the hair to such an extent that it has been difficult to produce satisfactory goods by using the same.

I have discovered that it is possible to eliminate such objectionable characteristics of the old process and to produce an article of perfect whiteness and of greater strength than has been possible to obtain up to now, by treating the hair with hydrogen in staziu nascendi and subsequently, after washing the hair in a suitable bath, treating it with oxygen in 8mm aascendi, for instance in a bath containing hydrogen peroxid or such other substance capable of liberating oxygen.

It is of course understood that hair of different origins and different grades requires difierent treatment not only in regard to the strength and number of treatments, but also in regard to the succession of treatments. It is therefore impossible to give one formula which would hold good for all the different materials of this kind, but the true criterion will be found to be close to the formula for treating cows hair which I Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

Serial No. 170,795.

shall now describe as an example of how I may practise my invention.

I may preliminarily prepare the hair by first soaking it in a slightly alkaline solutlon, or in a soap solution or in a bath containing a diluted acid, as for instance sulfuric acid or acetic acid, but as the latteracid is present in the first bath of the process as I prefer to operate it, I usually dispense with this preliminary treatment. In practising my new invention I first treat cows hair for example, for about 24 hours with hydrogen in 8mm a-ascendi by submerging it in a bath of approximately 90 F. containing for example about {0.2% zinc dust and 5% acetic acid. The material is then washed and subsequently treated for approximately one hour at about 120 F. in a bath containing for example about 0.5% soap and 0.2% sodium carbonate. Thereupon the material is again washed and then bleached for about 2 f hours at approximately 80 F. in preferably an eight volume hydrogen peroxid bath to which sufficient ammonia is added to bring the bath to proper alkalinity.

If necessary the treatment with the nascent hydrogen bath or the bleaching bath or both of same is repeated until the desired effect is reached. The hair is finished with a bath containing for example 0.125% acetic acid or 0.25% soap and 0.125% formaldehyde.

It is unessential for the success of my new process how I prepare the nascent hydrogen bath, for besides the Way described I may also obtain the desired result by applying instead of zinc dust and acetic acid, other material liberating hydrogen when acted upon by water, such materials being for instance sodium amalgam or sodium zinc, or nascent hydrogen produced in any other technical way.

Likewise I do not restrict myself to the use of hydrogen pero-xid exclusively as any other solution containing a substance liberating oxygen, as for instance that of a peroxid of an alkali metal or of an alkali earth metal (the strong alkali thereby liberated being properly neutralized) or of a perforate, or of a persulfate, of a perca-rbonate or of other persalt which will accomplish the same puraose.

1 The hair from which the coloring matter is extracted may be finished in a Way to either retain the form of a straight filament or it may be curled by treating it with formaldehyde as described in U. S. Patent No. 1,210,39-L issued to me January 2, 1917.

I claim:

1. The process of treating hair, consisting in acting on the hair with a liquid containing substances capable as applied of generating hydrogen in contact with the hair, subsequently washing it and then treating it with a solution containing a substance liberating oxygen.

2. The process of treating hair, consisting in treating the hair with a bath containing zinc dust and acetic acid, subsequently Washing it with an alkaline solution containing soap and sodium carbonate, and then treating it with a hydrogen peroxid solution rendered alkaline by addition of ammonia.

3. In a process of treating hair the step of treating the hair with a liquid containing substances capable as applied of generating hydrogen in contact with the hair.

4. In processes of treating hair, the step of treating the hair first with a liquid containing substances capable as applied of enerating hydrogen in contact With the lair before treating it with a solution containing a substance liberating oxygen.

5. In a process of treating cows hair, the 30 step of treating the hair with a bath contain ing zinc and acetic acid.

6. In processes of treating cows hair the step of treating the hair first with a bath containing zinc and acetic acid before treating it with a bath containing a substance liberating oxygen.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

HANNS R. ANDERS. 

